AIM To collect data on the use of placebo interventions by GPs in Germany. METHODS A questionnaire was mailed to 400 randomly selected GPs in Bavaria. Non-responders were reminded by telephone after 4 weeks and were given a second copy of the questionnaire after a further 3 weeks. RESULTS In all, 208 completed questionnaires were returned. The majority of GPs (88%) have used a placebo at le...

OBJECTIVES To gauge the frequency and circumstances of use of placebo in clinical practice and the attitudes towards its use among those who administer it. DESIGN Retrospective questionnaire. SETTING Two large hospitals and various community clinics in the Jerusalem area. PARTICIPANTS 31 physicians working in hospital inpatient and outpatient departments, 31 head nurses working in hospita...

In the clinical trial context, given that placebo-controlled trials do not subject participants to serious or irreversible harm, placebo use is ethically justified because the participation is autonomous. In the clinical practice context, assuming that the open use of placebos is ineffective, placebos can be used deceptively without violating patients’ right of autonomy and therefore can also b...

Informed consent requires researchers to provide participants with information about research that is accurate, complete, and understandable. Researchers also have an ethical obligation to ensure participants understand the investigational nature of the study. In clinical trials we argue that adequate information must include understandable descriptions of the function of placebos and their eff...

BACKGROUND Placebo groups are used in randomised clinical trials (RCTs) to control for placebo effects, which can be large. Participants in trials can misunderstand written information particularly regarding technical aspects of trial design such as randomisation; the adequacy of written information about placebos has not been explored. We aimed to identify what participants in major RCTs in th...